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Baldur's Gate+Steampunk-Hamsters=[Let's Play] Avadon 2 Update 2!
Blackjack
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hello and welcome! Let's Play...
Avadon 2? Never heard of it!
Avadon 2 was made by Spiderweb Software and was released in October of last year. Spiderweb is an indie developer of turn-based, isometric RPGs with a heavy emphasis on story-telling and world building. Other series include Avernum and Geneforge. The notable thing about Spiderweb is that it consists of just one man, Jeff Vogel. Unlike most of his games where you create an entire party, though, the Avadon series takes a page from games like Baldur's Gate, giving you a main character you create, and then filling your party with pre-defined characters, complete with interparty dialogues and companion quests.
So what's it about?
The Avadon series is set in the continent Lynaeus, which consists of two main factions. The Pact, which is an alliance between five different nations, and the Farlands, which is essentially everyone else. The two groups are constantly at war with each other.
Avadon, also known as The Black Fortress, is a small army of warriors, spies, and assassins that act as defenders of the Pact. Avadon is ruled by a man known as the Keeper, and has three main types of operatives: Hearts, Eyes, and Hands. Hearts serve as advisors to the Keeper, Eyes are Avadon's spies and information-gatherers, and Hands are the keep's soldiers and assassins.
The forces of Avadon are able to operate outside of the laws of the Pact. Naturally, this can lead to corruption and abuse, which leads to the servants of Avadon being feared throughout the continent both by members of the Pact and the Farlands. This is especially true of the Hands, as only the most skilled and dangerous warriors are given that title.
Or at least, that's how things used to be. As of Avadon 2, Avadon is losing influence in the world. A former Heart turned traitor and led a massive invasion on the fortress, sending everything into chaos and disarray. This has given the Farlands the opportunity they've been waiting for and their rebellion turns increasingly violent as the armies of the Pact struggle to maintain control. And that's where we begin...
Sounds cool! Where's the Avadon 1 LP?
There isn't one! (At least, not on these forums. Try YouTube if you must) The nice thing about these games--and in fact all Spiderweb games in any given series--is that, while they all take place in the same world and feature a few recurring characters, the games are entirely self-contained and knowledge of the preceeding games in the series are entirely unnecessary.
Awesome! Let's Play!
Now you're talking!
...oh hey. Looks like it's your turn! Time for READER PARTICIPATION. As you can see, there are five classes to choose from. Here they are, along with both the male and female artwork:
PROS:
- Extremely hardy. A Blademaster using a sword and shield will be able to Parry (reduce damage taken to zero) most attacks
- Highest health pool.
- Best group buffing abilities in the game
- Decent debuffing abilities
- Can use the heaviest armor types.
- Decent AoE abilities.
CONS:
- Fairly low damage output.
- Only one damage type (Physical).
- No Mental Effect resistance, so they can be charmed/slowed/confused easily.
PROS:
- Very high damage output in either melee or ranged combat
- Lots of AoE damaging abilities
- Decent group buffs and debuffs
- Can use the heaviest armor types
- Can deal high damage to enemy traps and turrets
CONS:
- They look kind of doofy.
- Only one damage type (Physical)
- Support abilities not as useful as Blademaster's.
- Like the Blademaster, they have no innate Mental resistance.
PROS:
- Only class with dedicated healing abilities.
- Summons can act as meatshields.
- Great buffs.
- Multiple damage types (Physical, Energy/Magical, and Poison/Acid)
- Default attack is ranged.
- Good AoE options.
- Decent health pool.
CONS:
- Lowest damage output.
- Summons have poor damage as well.
- Can only have one summon at a time.
- Very low armor.
- Fairly low resistances, including no Mental Resist.
PROS:
- Incredibly high, AoE damage
- Can use all damage types (Physical, Fire, Ice, Magical, Poison)
- AoE Debuffs
- Very high resistances
- Only class with innate Mental Resistance.
- Default attack is ranged
CONS:
- Uses lots of Stamina
- Very low armor
- Debuffs don't work on stronger enemies
PROS:
- Can summon turrets to deal damage, buff allies, debuff enemies, heal the group, or perform AoE attacks.
- Can summon two turrets.
- Can deal high damage to enemy traps and turrets
- Decent ranged combat abilities
- Only class capable of soloing the game on the highest difficulty
CONS:
- Low resistances, including no resistance to Mental, Poison, or Acid attacks.
- Without turrets, AoE options are extremely limited.
So what I need from you, honored readers, are a character class, a character name, and a character gender. Be aware that we will also have party members! One character of each class will join our team so no matter which class wins you'll get to see every class in action at least once.
Updates:
Part 1 - The Tutorial
Part 1.5 - Skill Trees
Part 2 - Party members and Rats
Avadon 2? Never heard of it!
Avadon 2 was made by Spiderweb Software and was released in October of last year. Spiderweb is an indie developer of turn-based, isometric RPGs with a heavy emphasis on story-telling and world building. Other series include Avernum and Geneforge. The notable thing about Spiderweb is that it consists of just one man, Jeff Vogel. Unlike most of his games where you create an entire party, though, the Avadon series takes a page from games like Baldur's Gate, giving you a main character you create, and then filling your party with pre-defined characters, complete with interparty dialogues and companion quests.
So what's it about?
The Avadon series is set in the continent Lynaeus, which consists of two main factions. The Pact, which is an alliance between five different nations, and the Farlands, which is essentially everyone else. The two groups are constantly at war with each other.
Avadon, also known as The Black Fortress, is a small army of warriors, spies, and assassins that act as defenders of the Pact. Avadon is ruled by a man known as the Keeper, and has three main types of operatives: Hearts, Eyes, and Hands. Hearts serve as advisors to the Keeper, Eyes are Avadon's spies and information-gatherers, and Hands are the keep's soldiers and assassins.
The forces of Avadon are able to operate outside of the laws of the Pact. Naturally, this can lead to corruption and abuse, which leads to the servants of Avadon being feared throughout the continent both by members of the Pact and the Farlands. This is especially true of the Hands, as only the most skilled and dangerous warriors are given that title.
Or at least, that's how things used to be. As of Avadon 2, Avadon is losing influence in the world. A former Heart turned traitor and led a massive invasion on the fortress, sending everything into chaos and disarray. This has given the Farlands the opportunity they've been waiting for and their rebellion turns increasingly violent as the armies of the Pact struggle to maintain control. And that's where we begin...
Sounds cool! Where's the Avadon 1 LP?
There isn't one! (At least, not on these forums. Try YouTube if you must) The nice thing about these games--and in fact all Spiderweb games in any given series--is that, while they all take place in the same world and feature a few recurring characters, the games are entirely self-contained and knowledge of the preceeding games in the series are entirely unnecessary.
Awesome! Let's Play!
Now you're talking!
...oh hey. Looks like it's your turn! Time for READER PARTICIPATION. As you can see, there are five classes to choose from. Here they are, along with both the male and female artwork:
PROS:
- Extremely hardy. A Blademaster using a sword and shield will be able to Parry (reduce damage taken to zero) most attacks
- Highest health pool.
- Best group buffing abilities in the game
- Decent debuffing abilities
- Can use the heaviest armor types.
- Decent AoE abilities.
CONS:
- Fairly low damage output.
- Only one damage type (Physical).
- No Mental Effect resistance, so they can be charmed/slowed/confused easily.
PROS:
- Very high damage output in either melee or ranged combat
- Lots of AoE damaging abilities
- Decent group buffs and debuffs
- Can use the heaviest armor types
- Can deal high damage to enemy traps and turrets
CONS:
- They look kind of doofy.
- Only one damage type (Physical)
- Support abilities not as useful as Blademaster's.
- Like the Blademaster, they have no innate Mental resistance.
PROS:
- Only class with dedicated healing abilities.
- Summons can act as meatshields.
- Great buffs.
- Multiple damage types (Physical, Energy/Magical, and Poison/Acid)
- Default attack is ranged.
- Good AoE options.
- Decent health pool.
CONS:
- Lowest damage output.
- Summons have poor damage as well.
- Can only have one summon at a time.
- Very low armor.
- Fairly low resistances, including no Mental Resist.
PROS:
- Incredibly high, AoE damage
- Can use all damage types (Physical, Fire, Ice, Magical, Poison)
- AoE Debuffs
- Very high resistances
- Only class with innate Mental Resistance.
- Default attack is ranged
CONS:
- Uses lots of Stamina
- Very low armor
- Debuffs don't work on stronger enemies
PROS:
- Can summon turrets to deal damage, buff allies, debuff enemies, heal the group, or perform AoE attacks.
- Can summon two turrets.
- Can deal high damage to enemy traps and turrets
- Decent ranged combat abilities
- Only class capable of soloing the game on the highest difficulty
CONS:
- Low resistances, including no resistance to Mental, Poison, or Acid attacks.
- Without turrets, AoE options are extremely limited.
So what I need from you, honored readers, are a character class, a character name, and a character gender. Be aware that we will also have party members! One character of each class will join our team so no matter which class wins you'll get to see every class in action at least once.
Updates:
Part 1 - The Tutorial
Part 1.5 - Skill Trees
Part 2 - Party members and Rats
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Blackjack on
+3
Posts
Still working my way through the Geneforge series (early part of 2 right now) myself so I got awhile before I get into this goodness.
Sorcerer, Hurgh, male
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
I vote shaman or shadowwalker but if you'll find em anyway go with Hurgh the mighty sorcerer, I just want to see them in action eventually.
It was a lot more impressive when I found out spiderweb software is basically just one guy who does everything though.
Yeah, once you realize it's just one dude (though I believe he has a few people that sometimes help out, he does 99% of the work) the games become even better. It's true the combat isn't quite as in-depth as some other games though. I like it well enough personally, but Vogel's really big on the story and writing more than the combat.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
I appreciate a world where a dragon is fucking terrifying.
Also gonna vote shadow walker or shaman. Shaman probably gives you greater versatility in picking party members.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Name? Bro-bot.
PSN: BrightWing13 FFX|V:ARR Bright Asuna
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Hurgh the Sorcerer - 2
Bro-bot the Tinkermage - 5
Shaman - 2
Shadowwalker - 2
Voting will remain open for at least another 12 hours! Possibly even another 36, to give a solid 48 hours. I will, however, go through the tutorial/prologue section with Bro-bot just to get some content up and let you all get a feel for the game.
edit: I feel like I should count Geth as a vote for Tinkermage now
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Perfect. Next, we have to choose a difficulty. If you recall, I said the following about Tinkermages:
Well...I said it so I guess I may as well, right?
I've never actually played on Torment before (at least, not legitimately...) so this will be an experience for us all! Anyway, once we have that out of the way, we're treated to a bit of exposition, complete with pretty artwork.
The Pact has one purpose: Survival, by crushing the Farlands and keeping them weak and divided.
You have spent your life training and preparing to defend the Pact, and you have shown great skill. However, it is a dangerous time. The Pact's members have turned their backs on a peace that has held for centuries. Old grudges have led to civil war and outright rebellion.
Avadon has watched over the Pact for three centuries. Its warriors wield the finest weapons. Its wizards are allowed to learn the most powerful spells. And the keeper of the Black Fortress, Redbeard, directs them all.
But a recent assault shattered the Black Fortress and killed most of its warriors. Now few fight to keep the Pact unified against the many foes that would destroy it.
As for you, you have been sent out from the keep with a scout, who is showing you the paths of the Contesed Lands and helping you to watch for Wyldrylm rebels.
The lands of your birth are on the verge of bloody and disastrous civil war. It is falling to a few brave warriors to keep the destruction at bay ...
And on that ominous note, we begin.
You walk out of your wrecked, garbage-strewn barracks into another, slightly larger, wrecked, garbage-strewn barracks. Rebel raiders of the Wyldrylm have been rampaging over these lands for months, and most of the hunters and woodsmen have fled. The dry, southern lands of Lynaeus can be cold in the mornings. Fortunately, Silke placed your cloak by the door. Once you put it on, you can walk outside and find the scout.
True to the narration's word, there is a cloak on the ground near us. Let's grab it and check out the inventory screen, shall we?
We...are not well equipped at all. A dagger, a shirt, a pair of pants, and now a cloak are all we have on this scouting trip. Fortunately, we are scouts and not warriors. Chances are we won't run into anything too vicious, right?
Additionally, as you can see in the image, we have an encumbrance limit as well. Encumbrance only accrues for equipped items. We can carry around as much as we want, but as soon as we hit 42 pounds of equipped gear, we begin to take combat penalties. Increasing our Strength will raise the limit of our encumbranace.
We also have quick slot items. We can put handy items like healing potions, scrolls, wands, etc here and use them without having to open our inventory every time. Scarabs will be discussed in a future update. It'll be a while before we get one.
Now that we have our cloak and are nice and toasty warm, let's continue on through the door.
Oh geeze, it's fighting time already? I don't even have shoes yet! I'm gonna get stuff all over my feet...
Oh well. Nothing we can do about it. We left our shoes at the front door and that's the direction the rats are coming from. Let's get this over with!
That was sufficiently easy for the first battle, I suppose. I won't be adding video of every battle, just ones that are particularly interesting/challenging, or which show off a new tactic, or provide nice items as a reward.
Speaking of rewards, for this one we get...sixty experience and a pair of leather sandals. Not exactly amazing, but at least now we can get outside.
This seems like as good a time as any to look at our status screen, no? After all, Silke made us fight those rats all by ourself so she can just hold her horses.
Stats are fairly self-explanatory. Each of Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence will make the corresponding attack type hit more often and do more damage. Melee for Strength, Ranged for Dexterity, and Magic for Intelligence. Endurance increases health and Vitality, which is used when casting spells or using skills. Additionally, each stat has an additional purpose. Strength, as previously mentioned, will increase your encumbrance limit. Dexterity makes you act faster in combat and increases your evasion and defense against physical, fire, and magical attacks. Intelligence will cause hostile mental attacks to miss more often, and endurance increases both evasion and resistance to cold, poison, and acid attacks. The maximum evasion chance is 95%. Even if we came back to fight those rats at the end of the game with maxed everything, they'd have a five percent chance of hitting us.
Which is where resistances come in. "Armor" is your resistance to Physical attacks. Obviously, equipping better armor raises this. Armor (the equipment) will also raise magical and elemental resistances by about half of its physical resistance. Elemental Resistances are fairly self explanatory. Poison and Acid resistance also affect the status effects of the same name. Mental Resistance shows how likely it is you can resist things such as Slow, Charm, Terror, etc. Curses are the more "physical" debuffs, lowering chance to hit, damage done, resistances, and things like that. The maximum Resistance level is 90%. You can never completely nullify an attack.
The "invisible" stats are Critical Hit Chance, Parry Chance, and Riposte Chance. Critical Hit is the same wonderful damage increase we all know and love from countless other games. Parrying is the chance to reduce a physical attack, melee or ranged, to 0 damage. Blademasters are the experts of Parrying. In addition to equipment (for example, all shields come with an Armor value as well as a flat 5% chance to parry), Blademasters gain a passive skill that grants a large Parry chance -- up to an additional 36% of the time.
Riposting is the ability to turn a melee attack back on an enemy. You take reduced damage from the attack, and your attacker takes damage as well. Shadowwalkers and Tinkermages are the pros of Riposting; each can gain an approximately 50% chance to Riposte an attack. Since these are invisible, no one is sure of the exact maximum value for them, but they appear to be capped at about 70-75% though Critical Hit is the only one you're likely to raise that high for any character.
And that's the left side of the screen explained. We'll look at the right side once we gain a level. I think we've kept Silke waiting long enough.
A bit further down the road, Silke stops abruptly.
This second battle is against four rats. It goes even easier than the first fight since in addition to our turret, Silke is tossing javelins as support. To the north of these rats, though, we run into a nice challenge, as well as an upgrade to our dinky little dagger.
This fight really illustrated just why the Tinkermage is capable of soloing the game. The turrets can draw enemy attacks and keep you alive much longer than you would live normally. If I had tried this without the turret, I'd have been toast. The spear is a great upgrade to the dagger, too. With it, we'll be able to oneshot most enemies in the tutorial, which will let us save Vitality for turrets until we run into something more challenging. Anyway, while we were fighting those rats, Silke found something even worse.
Disarming mines is simple. Like Silke says, you just run up and smash them. Lockpicking classes like Tinkermages, Shadowwalkers, and Sorcerers will do extra damage based on the level of their lockpicking skill.
We continue on for a while before approaching another abandoned building.
Basically, Wretches = Goblins
Psh! Come on! I'm a goddamn Tinkermage! I can take out a few mines, no problem. It's literally my class description. Lemme at 'em!
...so. Wretch hunting, huh? Yeah, let's do that. That sounds good.
There's really nothing of great import in the building, just a few wretches and their pet wolves (Named, wonderfully, Bitey, Snarly, Longtooth, and Bitey Two). We do manage to pick up a few nice upgrades and a scroll, though.
When we leave, it turns out that Silke figured out a way around the mines.
Well then. Let's go. Before long, we come to a dead end. A dialogue box pops up too quickly to get a shot of it, though, so you'll have to take my word for it.
And then shit goes sideways
The Kva blademaster is waiting for you. "Stop a moment. Tell me what is happening. Is it Wyldrylm raiders again? I'll gladly spit them for you."
Gamal seems taken aback. "Ogres? Here? I suppose we'd better teach them that their kind isn't welcome in Pact lands. You move on and report to the keep. We'll stop them here." There is a horn hanging from his belt. He removes it and raises it to his lips. He blows a long, clear note on the horn. Any of your allies in the nearby woods now know that something is wrong. As you leave the relative safety of the Pact encampment, there is another explosion not far to the south. The ground shakes under your feet and a cloud of dust and sulfurous smoke washes over you.
Down this road, we fight our last major battle in the tutorial. If you're not prepared, it can be a doozy. Fortunately, I was prepared:
Now, a couple important things happened here so let's go over it bit by bit:
First, the potion I used before approaching the rebels was a Speed potion I picked up nearby. This gives you Battle Frenzy, which adds five AP to your total each turn. AP is used to move, attack, use items, skills, pretty much everything in battle. Five extra AP puts you at thirteen per turn, which is enough to allow you to attack twice, or, as I used it here, move deeper into the fray and still allow a skill use. If I hadn't used it, it would have been at least three turns before I got to attack at which point the soldiers could be overwhelmed, or worse: I could be dead. This way, my turret and I got to go right away.
Next, the rebels had a status effect thanks to my little lie of being from Avadon. Weakness Curse lowers your chance to hit and damage dealt by 10%. It's pretty handy at this stage, and the soldiers would actually be at risk of dying without it.
Third, as seen when I used the scroll I got earlier, there is no friendly fire. Thank goodness for that.
Fourth, I am going to be going against all common RPG wisdom and actually use items. I know. It hurts me too. But you have to do it on Torment.
Finally, in addition to the armor you saw in the video, there are also a couple ranged weapons nearby that I also picked up
Razordisks are the projectiles used by Shadowwalkers and Tinkermages. Bows are used by Sorcerers and Blademasters. Shamans use a third type of weapon that we haven't run into yet.
Now, the soldier gave us some directions, so let's go ahead and follow them to finish off the tutorial.
And that concludes the tutorial for Avadon 2. Next time, we'll meet our first party members, get our new orders, and perhaps most importantly, level up and get better gear!
And a reminder, voting is still open so if you really liked or really hated what you saw of the Tinkermage, you can vote accordingly.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
You gotta do it like me and just not have anyone vote, then you get to do what you want.
Edit: images in spoilers didn't work for me, did i do something wrong?
Nah I'm all for reader participation when able.
As for your edit are you saying you can't see the images or that you couldn't get it to work for your LP? I actually originally posted it without spoilers and then went "Holy shit that's big" and put spoilers around it as an edit, so you could try that if it's the latter?
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Here is the shot of Brobot's level one stats and skills from the previous update. We already talked about stats, so let's talk about what happens to them when you level up. Each level gives one stat point to spend. Additionally, each level will automatically increase one of your stats. Level 2 will increase Strength, Level 3 increases Dexterity, 4 increases Intelligence, 5 increases Endurance, and then it repeats. The general advice is to raise your "main" stat (Strength for melee characters, Dexterity for ranged fighters, and Intelligence for casters) until level 10, and then start putting points in Endurance for the Health and Vitality boost.
Underneath Resistances, you can see a character's Specializations. On levels 5, 15, and 25 you can put one point in any of the three Specializations available to you, which will increase the level of the three skills that Specialization corresponds to by one. The left Spec boosts the left column, the middle Spec the middle, and the right Spec the right. Generally, just put all three points here into the middle column, which are your passive skills that grant great bonuses. This is especially true in Torment difficulty. So, let's look at all the classes skills in depth before talking about leveling them.
Tinkermage
The Tinkermage's leftmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Blade Training:
Makes your melee attacks more likely to hit and do more damage.
At level 3: Adds a chance that your blade will squirt acid onto your foe.
At level 6: Gain Bladeslash, a powerful attack that knocks your opponent off balance, slowing and ensnaring it.
Wristflinger Training:
Makes your razordisk attacks more likely to hit and do more damage.
At level 3: Gives each razordisk you fling a 5% chance per level of also ensnaring the target.
At level 6: Gain Charged Shot. Fire a disk charged with magical energy. Does extra damage and sprays a powerful caustic agent on all foes near the target.
Yankshot:
Fires a vicious hook that damages the target and pulls it closer to you.
At level 3: Adds a 75% chance of briefly stunning the target.
At level 6: Gain Netshot. Fire a fine, hooked net from your wristflinger. Damages and temporarily immobilizes your target.
Shrapnel Grenade:
Flings a lethal grenade that damages everyone near the target with vicious razors.
At level 3: Adds a 10% per level chance of doing critical damage to the main target.
At level 6: Gain Caustic Grenade. Fling a lethal grenade that damages everyone near the target and coats them with a caustic substance.
The Tinkermage's middle skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Blade Craft:
Each level makes your melee attacks 1% more likely to hit and do 5% more damage.
At level 3: Each additional level makes your missile attacks 1% more likely to hit and do 5% more damage.
At level 7: Improvements to your wristflinger add a 10% per level chance of riposting enemy attacks.
Armor Craft:
Superior crafted armor gives 4% per level resistance to physical damage.
At level 3: Adds 5% per level resistance to magic and elemental attacks.
At level 7: Each additional level adds a 5% chance to evade enemey blows.
Turret Craft:
Each point of this skill increases the level of your turrets by one.
At level 3: Summoned turrets appear with War Chant.
At level 7: Summoned turrets appear with Haste.
The Tinkermage's rightmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Build Boltflinger:
Constructs a boltflinger in a nearby location. It will shoot enemies. The higher the skill, the higher the level of the flinger.
At level 3: Turret will also occasionally spray razors.
At level 6: Gain Build Razorflinger.
Build Snare Turret:
Constructs a snare turret in a nearby location, that damages and snares nearby enemies. They higher this skill, the higher the level of the turret.
At level 3: Turret attack will occasionally also do more damage and weaken foes.
At level 6: Gain Build Temporal Pylon. Construct a temporal pylon that damages and slows foes.
Build Blessing Pylon:
Construct a blessing pylon in a nearby location. When a foe comes close to it, it blesses all nearby allies and sometimes helps their abilities recharge faster.
At level 3: Turret occasionally also hastes nearby allies.
At level 6: Gain Build Healing Pylon.
Build Freezing Turret:
Constructs and ice turret in a nearby location that sprays cones of ice on nearby foes.
At level 3: Turret occasionally sprays ice in all directions.
At level 6: Gain Inferno Turret. Construct an inferno turret that sprays cones of intense fire on nearby foes.
Finally, the Tinkermage's two utility skills are, from left to right:
Tool Use: Reduces the number of lockpicks that are required whenever your group attempts to pick a lock or disarm a trap. Makes attacks against mines and turrets far more effective.
Charge Turrets: Heals and blesses all of your existing turrets.
It's fairly obvious that the big winners here are the middle and right skill trees. The left skill tree is not bad, and on any other class would actually be really good. But when comparing it to being able to heal, bless, do great AoE attacks, and having two extra targets for the enemies to focus on it pales in comparison. It is possible to skimp on Turret Craft to focus on Wristflinger Training, though. That's a valid strategy.
Sorcerer
The Sorcerer's leftmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Firebolt:
Fling a bolt of fire at a single foe.
At level 3: Add a chance that the flames will cause a critical hit.
At level 6: Gain Icy Lance. Fling a powerful bolt of ice at a single foe.
Lightning Wind:
Shoots out a cone of lightning, shocking your enemies.
At level 3: Adds a chance that the lignting will also temporarily weaken the targets.
At level 6: Gain Steel Wind. Fling out a cone of razor-sharp shards, doing high physical damage to your foes.
Ice Storm:
Cause a rain of ice, damaging all foes in an area.
At level 3: Adds a chance that the snow will also slow the enemies.
At level 6: Gain Firestorm. Create a rain of fire in an area, inflicting high fire damage on your foes.
Searing Spray:
Fires out a cone of acid spray, damaging your foes.
At level 3: Also leaves its victims taking acid damage over the next several rounds.
At level 6: Gain Corrupting Cloud. Rain down a cloud of corruption, doing high acid damage to fies in an area.
The Sorcerer's middle skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Ward Mastery:
Gives a 3% per level resistance to physical damage.
At level 3: Adds 8% per level resistance to mental attacks.
At level 7: Adds 10% per level resistance to magic and elemental attacks.
Focus Mastery:
Adds 5% per level to chance of inflicting critical damage.
At level 3: Adds 3% per level chance of damaging and stunning anyone who strikes you in melee.
At level 7: You will absorb 10% per level magical or elemental damage and use the power to recharge your abilities.
Magical Mastery:
Increases chance for all spells to hit by 5% per level.
At level 7: Adds 10% per level chance of reducing the time to recharge your abilities.
The sorcerer's rightmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Daze:
Dazes all enemies in an area, leaving them unable to act for a short time (unless you damage them).
At level 3: Increase the area of effect of the Daze spell.
At level 6: Gain Charm Foe. Take control of the mind of a foe, causing it to fight for you for a short time.
Arcane Blessing:
Grants resistance to magical, elemental, poison, and acid attacks for a short time.
At level 3: The resistance granted by Arcane Blessing helps your entire party.
At level 6: Gain Haste. All nearby allies are Hasted. For a short time, when they attack, they have a chance of being able to attack a second time.
Arcane Curse:
Places a War Curse on all nearby foes, making their attacks less effective.
At level 3: Also inflicts Weakness Curse on your nearby foes.
At level 6: Gain Slow. Slows all nearby foes, giving them a chance of missing their turns in combat.
Cloud of Confusion:
Confuses all nearby foes, causing them to act randomly in battle.
At level 3: Increases the radius of Cloud of Confusion.
At level 6: Gain Assault Blessing. Haste all nearby allies and cause them to reflect magical damage back at enemy casters.
Finally, the Sorcerer's utility skills are, from left to right:
Unlock Charm: Reduces the number of lockpicks that are required whenever your group attempts to pick a lock or disarm a trap.
Shadow Charm: Causes nearby enemies to forget that you are there, giving them a chance to switch to a new target. Also gives a powerful shield for a short time.
If I even need to tell you LEFT AND MIDDLE it is possible that you have never played a video game before. The right tree may sound good on paper, but there are several problems with it. The first is the obvious fact that powerful enemies are immune or, at the least, highly resistant to all status effects other than Poison/Acid/Corruption. Additionally, Slow and Haste are nowhere near as wonderful as they sound. Read the descriptions again. Note how it says "chance" of attacking again or missing a turn? It means that. It seems like there is about a 10-15% chance of either skill taking effect (unless you are slowed in which case it seems like it's closer to 35-40...). Reflection isn't as useful as it sounds, and there are other ways to get it besides. Arcane Blessing is probably the biggest loss by not going down that side, but it's an acceptable one. Magical Mastery can, and probably should, be ignored in favor of maxing out as many of the attack spells as possible.
Blademaster
The Blademaster's leftmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Melee Training:
Makes your melee attacks more likely to hit and do more damage.
At level 3: Adds a 5% per level chance for attacks to also hit a nearby enemy.
At level 6: Gain Stunning Bash. Deliver a vicious blow with your blade, doing more damage and stunning the target.
Archery Training:
Makes your bow attacks more likely to hit and do more damage.
At level 3: Adds a 5% chance per level of getting a critical hit.
At level 6: Gain Sharpshooter Spray. Fire a rapid spray of arrows, striking everyone in an area.
Hamstring:
Delivers a nasty blow with your blade, damaging and ensnaring the target.
At level 3: Also slows the target.
At level 6: Gain Berserk Leap. Leap to a foe, doing damage, dazing, and knocking it back.
Blade Sweep:
A mighty swing of the weapon damages all nearby foes.
At level 3: Also inflicts Weakness Curse on nearby foes.
At level 6: Gain Berserker Slash. A mighty swing of the weapon damages all nearby foes, stuns them, and knocks them back.
The Blademaster's middle skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Path of the Shield:
Increases resistance to magical damage by 3% per level.
At level 3: Adds a 4% per level chance to parry melee and missile attacks.
At level 7: Adds a 6% per level chance to riposte melee and missile attacks.
Path of the Blade:
Adds 5% per level damage to melee and missile attacks.
At level 3: Adds 5% per level effectiveness to battle blessings and curses.
At level 7: Adds 5% per level chance of critical damage.
Path of the Berserker:
Increases health by 5% per level.
At level 3: Adds 3% per level chance of starting to regenerate when struck in melee.
At level 7: Adds 10% per level chance of attacker in battle receiving a random curse.
The Blademaster's rightmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Second Wind:
Heals damage the Blademaster has suffered.
At level 3: Also causes the Blademaster to regenerate for a brief time.
At level 6: Gain Recovery. Instantly recover from several curses or afflictions.
War Cry:
A terrifying howl inflicts War Curse on all nearby foes.
At level 3: The howl also inflicts Weakness Curse.
At level 6: Gain Terrifying Howl. The Blademaster's scream terrifies all nearby enemies.
Warrior's Focus:
Gives the Blademaster a Mindshield, providing resistance to all mental attacks.
At level 3: Also causes the Blademaster to partially reflect attack spells.
At level 6: Gain Battle Frenzy. The Blademaster goes into a frenzy, gaining extra attacks for several rounds.
Triumphant Roar:
A rallying cry gives all allies Haste and War Chant.
At level 3: Also cures nearby allies of mental statuses.
At level 6: Gain Call of the Frenzy. A rallying cry drives nearby allies into a frenzy, giving them extra attacks.
Finally, the Blademaster's utility skills are, from left to right:
Challenge: Let out a berserk roar. You will regenerate and be shielded briefly, and nearby enemies are more likely to attack you.
Savage Blow: Deliver a vicous blow with your blade, doing more damage than normal.
The Blademaster is the first tree we've looked at where you don't have a clearcut better choice. The left tree contains really great attacks, and Berserker Leap can allow you to jump into the fray early on, or reach far away enemies like mages and archers. I personally am also a fan of AoE abilities, and the Blademaster has a really great one in their last skill on the left side. On the other hand, the right tree has a few good buffs and, most importantly, Call of the Frenzy which is, without contest, the single greatest buff skill in the game. Battle Frenzy on your entire team is a huge advantage. Generally, I like to go middle and right, though left is a completely valid choice.
Shadowwalker
The Shadowwalker's leftmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Blade Training:
Makes your melee attacks more likely to hit and do more damage.
At level 3: Gives a chance of your melee attacks poisoning the target.
At level 6: Gain Blade Whirlwind. Whirl around and deliver a series of vicious blows to all nearby enemies.
Razordisk Training:
Makes your razordisk attacks more likely to hit and do more damage.
At level 3: Gives each razordisk you throw a 5% chance per level of also damaging a second foe.
At level 6: Gain Razor Spray. Fling a handful of razordisks, damaging all enemies in a cone-shaped area.
Searing Pot:
Fling a small orb full of acid, burning the target.
At level 3: Also causes acid damage to the foe over the next several rounds.
At level 6: Gain Lightning Pot. Fling a small orb full of a foul, caustic substance, burning the target and causing lasting corruption damage.
Shattering Blow:
Delivers a vicious blow, stunning and knocking back the target.
At level 3: Also gives a chance of striking another nearby foe.
At level 6: Gain Steel Tornado. Become a lethal whirlwind of destruction. Attack speed is doubled, and all nearby foes are struck by your blade.
The Shadowwalker's middle skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Steel Discipline:
Gives a 5% per level backstab bonus to melee attacks against a foe with another of your allies next to it.
At level 3: Adds a 5% per level chance to riposte melee attacks.
At level 7: Add an 8% per level chance of entering a battle frenzy when struck in melee.
Earth Discipline:
Gives 4% per level resistance to magical and elemental attacks.
At level 3: Adds 5% per level resistance to physical damage.
At level 7: Add 10% per level resistance to mental, poison, and acid attacks.
Lightning Discipline:
Gives 5% per level additional damage to all weapon attacks.
At level 3: Adds 5% per level chance of getting critical hits.
At level 7: Adds 5% per level chance to hit with all melee attacks.
The Shadowwalker's rightmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Healing Focus:
Heals damage the Shadowwalker has suffered.
At level 3: Also cures one curse or hostile status.
At level 6: Gain Recovery. Instantly recover from several curses or afflictions.
Shadowstep:
Create a cloud of harsh smoke, stunning all nearby enemies. Then leap to a new location.
At level 3: Also ensnares all nearby enemies.
At level 6: Gain Cunning Decoy. Create a decoy of the Shadowwalker, absorbing enemy attacks. Then leap to a new location.
Shadowwalker's Focus:
Speeds up the Shadowwalker and causes all melee attackers to suffer physical damage.
At level 3: Also grants regeneration.
At level 6: Gain Bladeshield. For a short time, all damage is dramatically reduced and most melee attacks are riposted.
Flash Powder:
Throws a cloud of choking dust into the air. The actions of all nearby foes are slowed.
At level 3: Nearby foes are also ensnared.
At level 6: Gain Stunning Powder. Throw a cloud of burning dust into the air, stunning all nearby foes.
Finally, the Shadowwalker's utility skill are, from left to right:
Locksmith: Reduces the number of lockpicks that are required whenever your group attempts to pick a lock or disarm a trap. Makes attacks against mines and turrets far more effective.
Disarming Blow: Delivers a nasty blow to one enemy and causes its attacks to be weaker for a short time.
Another case where either path is a good choice. Shadowstep/Cunning Decoy and Shadowwalker's Focus are great skills but so are Razor Spray, Shattering Blow, and Steel Tornado. You can't really go wrong with either path, but personally I prefer the left tree just because I send my Blademaster down the right.
Shaman
The Shaman's leftmost skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Spirit Claw:
Slashes a nearby foe with the claws of a spirit wolf. Can even harm enemies at a distance.
At level 3: Adds a chance of also slashing a foe near your target.
At level 6: Gain Spirit Charge. Fill an area with a wave of force, slashing your enemies and making them vulnerable to magical attacks.
Poison Mist:
Creates a rain of poison mist, damaging everyone in an area.
At level 3: Also does poison damage to the targets over the next several rounds.
At level 6: Gain Acid Shower. Creates a rain of acid in an area, damaging the victims both immediately and over the next several turns.
Call the Winds:
Buffets a single target with icy winds, damaging the target, knocking it back, and immobilizing it.
At level 3: Also curses the target.
At level 6: Gain Call the Storm. Send out a cone of icy wind, damaging your foes, knocking them back, and ensnaring them.
Earthquake:
Causes the earth nearby to shake powerfully, damaging all nearby foes.
At level 3: Increase the range of the earthquake.
At level 6: Gain Earthshatter. Cause the earth nearby to buck uncontrollably, damaging foes, knocking them back, and stunning them.
The Shaman's middle skill tree includes, from bottom to top:
Hardiness:
Increase your health by 4% per level.
At level 3: Adds 6% per level resistance to acid, poison, and cold.
At level 7: Adds 12% per level resistance to magic and fire.
Beast Focus:
Every level of this skill adds 1 level to all summoned creatures.
At level 3: Summoned pets appear with War Chant.
At level 7: Summoned pets appear with Haste.
Nature Mastery:
Increases all magical damage by 4% per level.
At level 3: Also increases effectiveness of healing by 8% per level.
At level 7: Also increases effectiveness of all blessings and curses by 10% per level.
The Shaman's rightmost skilltree includes, from bottom to top:
Call Wolf:
Summons a wolf from the wilds to fight beside you.
At level 3: The wolf appears with the Curse Howl ability.
At level 6: Gain Call Hellhound. Summons a fiery hellhound from the wilds to fight beside you.
Healing Touch:
Summons the power of nature to heal one ally.
At level 3: Also removes one curse or hostile effect.
At level 6: Gain Group Heal. Summon the power of nature to heal all nearby allies.
Blessing of Thorns:
Surrounds all nearby allies with a shield of thorns, damaging attackers.
At level 3: Also cures one hostile status effect for each nearby ally.
At level 6: Gain Reflection. Raise a powerful protective ward, reflecting magical damage back at the caster.
Call Salamander:
Summons a fiery lizard to fight at your side.
At level 3: Lizard has the ability to summon a cloud of fire.
At level 6: Gain Call Drake. Summon a powerful drake to fight by your side.
Finally, the Shaman's utility skills include, from left to right:
Revive Servant: Summons the power of nature to heal damage suffered by your pet.
Healing Chant: Summons the power of nature to heal one ally.
Alright, now we can get into why the Shaman is the worst class in the game. There is no right choice here. His damaging abilites are weaker and less varied than the sorcerer's, and his summons although mobile unlike the Tinkermage's are nowhere near as powerful or hardy. The drake can take a good bit of damage and use an AoE fire attack to do a bit of damage, but the other summons can survive maybe one or two rounds of attacks before dying. Additionally, if you want to go with his left skill tree, you need to pump up Beast Focus, which does no good to you at all, because you're not focusing on the summons. Finally, Earthquake and Earthshatter, although good attacks in theory, are for some bizarre reason keyed off the Shaman's Dexterity instead of his or her Intelligence like all of the other spells in both trees. My recommendation is...I guess focus on the right tree for Group Heal and Blessing of Thorns, but put a few points into Poison Mist so you have an offensive option when you're up against an enemy that resists the default attack.
Now, when we level up we gain two skill points. It costs both of those skillpoints to increase a skill to level one, and then only one point per level after that. Skills max out at level 8. That's why it's important to add the Specialization points to the passive trees. If you don't, then the level 7 bonuses will only apply to levels seven and eight, but with the three "extra" levels, the skills have an effect level of 11, greatly increasing their bonuses. Also, you'll notice I kept talking about going "either left or right" here, and that's because there is a level cap of 30 in Avadon 2. You simply won't have enough skill points to be an effective hybrid.
I'll end this little mini-update here, with a reminder that voting is still open, in case these skill trees have influenced you at all.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Yep, Tinkermages are an addition for the second (as is choosing the gender of your character). I only played the demo of the first one. I wasn't too fond of my party members in that one. I like the party in this game much more. Lots more humor.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
In honor of this guy
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ipYkuCZ2IYI
The blue area here marks the end of a map. Stepping onto it will allow us to travel to the world map.
As you can see, it's just a simple "pick your next location" type map. The one nice twist are the arrows on the locations. Most locations have multiple entrances/exits, and clicking on an arrow instead of just the image itself will start you off at the corresponding entry point. Obviously this doesn't matter to us right now, but it'll be a big time saver in the future.
Rockridge Keep is our only choice other than the starting area, so let's go ahead and move on.
Of course, nothing can be easy in a video game. Looks like we'll have to hack our way through. Starting, of course, with some rats. To quote @Basil
And trust me, Basil doesn't even know the half of it.
But, since we're playing on Torment, even rats can be dangerous.
Honestly, I probably didn't need to use the potion there, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Moving on from rats, we stumble onto a far more interesting encounter.
It's our first party member! And a Hand of Avadon at that. Let's take a look at her equipment. Surely a Hand on a mission will have a great loadout, and her description did mention a sword and full set of plate armor. Maybe she'll even have something we can steal for ourselves.
...what the fuck!? She's even worse off than we were! At least we had fuckin' pants! That's just embarrassing, Khalida. Fortunately, I've been saving some junk equipment just in case this happened. We can give her our spear, too, since we'll be sticking to ranged attacks for now.
That's...better? I guess? Still embarrassing, but at least it's better than being pantsless. No wonder Avadon was nearly destroyed. Don't even give their warriors pants and shoes.
Alright, so, moving on, now that we have a new party member, the game wants to real nail home the fact that the tutorial is over.
As you can see, I had quite the close call there. If Khalida goes down, you're basically out of luck because you and/or your turret will not be able to take out the rest of the enemies in time. It may be possible to kite them and win like that, but that's no fun. And if you try that before taking out the rats in the lower area, you're basically SOL. Fortunately, that wasn't necessary. With that group of rebels dispatched, we are able to make it to the keep without trouble.
That must be Khalida's companion, then. Let's go introduce ourselves.
Gah! All right, let's take this moment to talk about your party member's palettes. Since your party consist of the same classes as you, they also use the same sprites as the main character. So, in order for them to appear different, there is a line in their scripts that swaps their colors. This works in theory, but in practice leads to people like Khalida and Yannick here who have bright pink hair and faces and bright green everything else. Or in the case of the Shaman, it just straight up turns them bright pink all over. This effect kind of works with the Shadowwalker, since they are covered from head to toe and just makes their clothes green, and it actually works really well for the party Tinkermage who looks almost exactly the same except for hilarious bright pink pants. The rest of the party...well...yeah. There's a way to fix this that I'll be using as we meet the party members so Yannick and Khalida here will look normal next update.
This is the portrait of a man who is "middle aged" which, I assume, means people in this world only live to about 45.
Well. That was cheery. Let's move on, shall we?
Hel-lo, what's this I see here?
There are a lot of little hidden switches all throughout the game. This one is painfully obvious, but a lot of them blend in really well. We'll even see one like that in the next update. Again, you can mess with the scripts to make them way more visible, and I probably will just to make sure I don't miss anything, but not until I show off one or two of the more well hidden ones. Anyway, behind the secret wall we pick up a nice item.
This will definitely come in handy. Now let's head in to report to Commander Odil. Just going to hit F12 to take a screenshot for y'all in front of his barracks and--
Wait. What?
Goddamnit.
~ONE RELOAD LATER~
Perfect. NOW we can go see Odil.
...well. We have our orders, I guess. Let's head back to Yannick.
And with that, we're ready to move on. So of course, we're going to put it off a bit and do something far more important...side quests!
Next time. See you then!
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
1) Write a shorter update with just the acquisition of sidequests and exploring the Keep
or
2) Write a full update without video of the frankly hilariously difficult spider I have to fight.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
3DS: 1607-3034-6970